Ball shooting game with ball receiving tunnel

ABSTRACT

A ball shooting game with a ball receiving tunnel in which a ball propelling mechanism includes a spring biased arm swingably mounted on a base and the arm has a cup-shaped ball receiving receptacle at its outer end. A hand grip is secured to the spring biased arm and permits the operator to swing the arm rearwardly and then suddenly release the arm so that the spring will swing the arm forwardly until the arm strikes a stop whereupon the ball in the receptacle is sent rolling across a playing surface toward a target. The target consists of a tunnel that may be placed on the playing surface at a desired distance from the ball propelling mechanism and in a position where the entrance to the tunnel will face the ball shooting receptacle. The object of the game is for the operator to shoot the ball so that it will roll through the tunnel.

United States Patent 1 [111' 3,907,298- Livick [451 Sept. 23, 1975 [54] BALL SHOOTING GAME W ITH BALL RECEIVING TUNNEL Lester R. Livick, 15106 Beatty St., San Leandro, Calif. 94579 Filed: Aug. 15, 1974 Appl. No.: 497,661

Inventor:

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1879 Smith 124/7 ll/l92l Weinberg et al. 273/119 R 9/1933 Cox 273/119 R 4/1935 Beland 273/127 R 7/1958 Conner 273/119 R 6/1969 Trimble 273/127 R 1/1971 Breslow 273/101 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 335,770 10/1930 United Kingdom 124/7 oz or 09 05/ Primary Examiner-Richard J. Apley Assistant ExaminerT. Brown Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William R. Piper [57] ABSTRACT A ball shooting game with aball receiving tunnel in which a ball propelling mechanism includes a spring biased arm swingably mounted on a base and the arm has a cup-shaped ball receiving receptacle at its outer end. A hand grip is secured to the spring biased arm and permits the operator to swing the arm rearwardly and then suddenly release the arm so that the spring will swing the arm forwardly until the arm strikes a stop whereupon the ball in the receptacle is sent rolling across a playing surface toward a target. The target consists of a tunnel that may be placed on the playing surface at a desired distance from the ball propelling mechanism and in aposition where the entrance to the tunnel will face the ball shooting receptacle. The object of the game is for the operator to shoot the ball so that it will roll through the tunnel.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,907,298

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,907,298

BALL SHOOTING GAME WITH BALL RECEIVING TUNNEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The game is designed to not only be entertaining to the player but also to increase his accuracy in aiming the ball shooting receptacle so that when the ball is shot from the receptacle when the spring biased arm strikes the stop, the ball will be rolled along a line that will cause the ball to enter and pass through the tunnel. The spring that swings the arm is concealed and the place where the spring is attached to the arm is also covered so that the child who plays the game cannot be injured I by the spring. The tunnel has a hand grip by means of which the tunnel may be readily moved to any desired position. 1

2. Description of the Prior Art The patent to Alfred Luthi, US. Pat. No. 2,662,518, issued Dec. 15, 1953, is for a Disc or Ring Projector. The projector includes a rubber band. the two portions of which engage the periphery of adisc or the spherical surface of a ball, after which the disc or ball is rotated so as to wind the two rubber band portions into two twisted sections that have a tendency to unwind when the disc or ball is released and to rotate the disc or ball just prior to releasing whereupon the disc or ball will roll across a surface toward a target area. A hazard is placed between the projector and the target over which the disc or ball is caused to roll while the target area consists of a number of spaced apart openings through which the disc or ball rolls if the player is correct in his aim.

My present game does not make use of a rubber band as the propelling means for the ball. A spring biased arm with a ball receiving receptacle is used for propelling the ball over a playing surface and toward a target which comprises a tunnel through which the ball can travel if the player has aimed correctly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of my invention is to provide a ball shooting game with a ball receiving tunnel which comprises a ball propelling mechanism and a ball receiving tunnel. These two items may be placed at any desired places on a playing surface, such as on a floor of a room. The spring biased arm has one end of a tension spring secured thereto and this portion of the arm and the spring itself are concealed so that a child who plays the game cannot get his fingers caught in the mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to provide a game that is simple in construction and is durable and efficient for the purpose intended.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a top plan view of the ball propelling mechanism and of the tunnel through which the ball is to travel.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the ball propelling mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the tunnel.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the base when looking in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of FIG. 5, and illustrates markings in degrees and associated with the spring biased arm to indicate to the player the different angles of swing at which the player can release the arm.

- FIG. 5 is an enlarged end view of the device when looking in the direction of the arrows 5-5 in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In carrying out my invention I provide a ball propelling mechanism and this includes a base, indicated generally at A in FIGS. 1 and 2. The base is preferably rectangular in shape with rounded corners. Rubber pads l are placed at the four corners and are secured to the undersurface of the base. The pads. 1 are thin and support the base A a slight distance above the supporting surface 2, such as the floor of a room. A ball propelling arm B is pivoted to the base A at 3 and the arm swings in a plane that parallels the plane of the base. The pivot 3 may consist of a stud projecting up through the base and through an opening in the arm B. The upper threaded portion of the stud receives a winged nut 4. A washer 5 spaces the arm B above the base A. FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 show the free end of the arm B provided with a shoe 6 that spaces the arm above the base A and the shoe rides over the top of the base when the arm is swung in a manner hereinafter described.

: A ball receiving and propelling receptacle C is mounted on the outer end of the arm B, see FIGS. 1 and 2. The cylindrical surface 7 of the receptacle lies tangent to the upper surface of the arm B and the axis of the cylindrical surface 7 preferablyextends at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the arm. The shoe 6 that is secured to the rear edge 8 of the arm B may have its upper portion 6a extended above the top of the arm and secured to the rear wall 9 of the receptacle for securing the receptacle to the armaBoth FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the front circular edge of the receptacle C as being provided with an outwardly extending flange 10, the plane of the flange extending at right angles to the axis of the cylindrical portion 7 of the receptacle. A hand grip 11 is secured to the rear edge 8 of the arm B so as to permit an operator to swing the arm B rearwardly from the position shown in FIG. 1 into the dash double dot line position 12 illustrated in the same Figure.

l will now describe the spring means for yieldingly urging the arm B in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 3. A tension spring D is shown in dotted lines in FIGS. l and 2. One end 13 of the spring D is secured to the base A and the other end 14 is secured to an eyelet 15 which in turn is secured to the arm B. A cover E encloses the spring D and this cover has a semicylindrical portion 16 that houses the spring D and the portion 16 has outwardly extending flanges 17 that contact the upper surface of the base A. Screws 18 secure the flanges to the base. The front end of the semicylindrical portion 16 is closed by an end piece 19. The other end of the semi-cylindrical portion remains open.

I also conceal that portion of the swinging arm B which has the end 14 of the coil spring D connected thereto by the eyelet screw 15, see FIGS. I and 2. A triangularly shaped cover plate F extends over the swingablc arm B and it has one edge 20 coinciding with the plane that extends across the rear end of the semicylindrical portion 16 of the cover E which encloses the spring D. Three legs 21 are placed at the three corners of the cover plate F and secure the plate to the base A while supporting the plate above the base so that the spring biased arm B is free to swing between the two positions shown in FIG. 1. A rubber stop G is mounted on the base A and prevents the spring D from swinging the arm B in a counterclockwise direction beyond the full line position shown in FIG. 1.

Before describing the operation of the game, I will first give a detailed description of the tunnel unit H through which the player must shoot the ball J before winning the game, see FIGS. 1 and 3. This tunnel unit comprises front and rear walls 22 and 23, respectively. The two walls 22 and 23 are preferably rectangular in shape and four rods 24 interconnect the four corners of the front wall 22 with the corresponding four corners in the rear wall 23. A tunnel member 25, rectangular in cross section, extends between and is connected to the front and rear walls 22 and 23. The lower wall 26 of the tunnel member lies substantially flush with the supporting floor surface 2, see FIG. 3. This is so that the ball J, when aimed at the tunnel 25, will travel through the tunnel and over the bottom wall 26 if the players aim is correct. A handle 27 is provided for transporting the tunnel unit H and it extends between the front and rear walls 22 and 23.

OPERATION From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily un- .derstood. The ball propelling mechanism A is placed on the floor 2 and the tunnel unit H is positioned the desired distance from the ball propelling mechanism and the unit H is so placed that the tunnel member 25 will be facing the ball throwing receptacle C, see FIG. 1. The ball .I is placed in the receptacle C and then the player grasps the handgrip II to swing the arm B in a clockwise direction about the pivot 3. It will be noted that the springD is protected by the cover E and the connection of the spring with the arm B is also protected by the cover F. In this way the hands of the player are protected.

The ball J is preferably made of soft rubber and it is placed in the receptacle C just before the arm B is swung rearwardly to tension the spring D. Then the player releases the arm and the spring will suddenly swing the arm forwardly until it comes to an abrupt stop when hitting the rubber stop G. The ball .I is propelled across the floor in the direction of the arrow 28 in FIG. 1 and toward the tunnel unit H. If the player has aimed correctly, the ball will travel through the tunnel member 25 because the bottom wall 26 of the member lies flush with the floor 2, see FIG. 3.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, l illustrate enlarged views of a portion of the base A to indicate how the base can be marked off in degrees in increments of 20 from to 100. An arcuate line 30 is marked on the upper surface of the base A, and it starts at the rest position of the arm B, when the arm contacts the stop G, see FIG. 1. The center for the arcuate line 30 is the pivotal center 3 for the arm B. In FIG. 5, l shown an end view of the shoe 6 that supports the outer end of the arm B, and this end of the shoe is provided with an indicating mark 31 that registers with an end line 32 defining the area marked in degrees on the base A, see also FIG. 4. The area which is marked in degrees is divided into six spaces and these have the numbers 0; 20; 40; 60; and arranged in consecutive order. The purpose of these degree markings is to permit the player to decide how far back to swing the arm B before releasing the arm in order to get the best results in aiming the ball in its receptacle C, at the tunnel shown in FIG. 1.

I claim:

1. A game comprising:

a. a ball propelling unit having a base supported on a horizontal surface, an elongated, spring biased, retractable arm pivotally attached at one of its ends to said base and being swingable in a plane parallel to said surface, said pivotal arm carrying a ball receiving receptacle at its free end;

b. a stop member; said stop member being attached to said base at a point spaced from and in the path of said pivotal arm such that it will engage said pivotal arm intermediate its ends to cause a sudden stop of said pivotal arm after said pivotal arm has been retracted against said spring and released;

c. a tunnel unit spaced from said ball propelling unit and being supported by said surface, said tunnel unit having side, top and bottom walls, the bottom wall of said tunnel lying in a plane with said propelling unit base;

(I. said receptacle having an opening whose plane extends at a right angle to the plane of said surface; and

e. whereby a retracting of said swingable arm with a ball in said receptacle and a sudden freeing of said arm will cause the arm and receptable to propel] the ball over said surface and through said tunnel if the aim of the moving ball is correct.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. a coil tension spring having one end secured to the base and its other end secured to said arm;

b. a cover for said spring; and

c. a second cover extending over that portion of said arm that has the spring end connected thereto.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2: and in which a. said base having a portion of its upper surface provided with an arcuate line that registers with the outer end of spring biased arm;

b. said arcuate line being divided up into degree markings to indicate various positions to which said arm can be retracted before being released; and

c. the free end of said arm having a marking associated therewith that can be brought into registration with the desired marking on said arcuate line as the arm is swung rearwardly about its pivot. 

1. A game comprising: a. a ball propelling unit having a base supported on a horizontal surface, an elongated, spring biased, retractable arm pivotally attached at one of its ends to said base and being swingable in a plane parallel to said surface, said pivotal arm carrying a ball receiving receptacle at its free end; b. a stop member; said stop member being attached to said base at a point spaced from and in the path of said pivotal arm such that it will engage said pivotal arm intermediate its ends to cause a sudden stop of said pivotal arm after said pivotal arm has been retracted against said spring and released; c. a tunnel unit spaced from said ball propelling unit and being supported by said surface, said tunnel unit having side, top and bottom walls, the bottom wall of said tunnel lying in a plane with said propelling unit base; d. said receptacle having an opening whose plane extends at a right angle to the plane of said surface; and e. whereby a retracting of said swingable arm with a ball in said receptacle and a sudden freeing of said arm will cause the arm and receptable to propell the ball over said surface and through said tunnel if the aim of the moving ball is correct.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. a coil tension spring having one end secured to the base and its other end secured to said arm; b. a cover for said spring; and c. a second cover extending over that portion of said arm that has the spring end connected thereto.
 3. The combination as set forth in claim 2: and in which a. said base having a portion of its upper surface provided with an arcuate line that registers with the outer end of spring biased arm; b. said arcuate line being divided up into degree markings to indicate various positions to which said arm can be retracted before being released; and c. the free end of said arm having a marking associated therewith that can be brought into registration with the desired marking on said arcuate line as the arm is swung rearwardly about its pivot. 